Lettering machine



Dec. 9, 1930. 1.. M DONALD LETTERING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l 5 Ri wm INVENTOR Dec. 9, 1930. L. MCD 1,784,152

LETTERING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Patented Dec. 9, 1930 UNITED STA LEONARD McDONALD, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS LETTERING MACHINE Application filed July 5, 1924. Serial No. 724,347.

My invention is a combination parallel ruler and lettering device for lettering drawings, and for lettering and ornamenting signs, etc.

The preferred form for general use consists of a support movable on a stationary guide rod. The. support having mounted on it pantographic mechanism, and master copies ofletters, or ornamental characters consisting of grooved designs, making it easy to guide the tracer for copying the required letters of the mastercopies on paper or other material over which the support is being advancedby letter spacing means and a ruling blade attached'tothe support having angular adjustment with respect to: the support. Other important-features are hereinafter described and claimed. The'scope of my broad claims is further-indicated at'the close of the general description.

Fig.1 is av plan view of the device. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 22"of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a joint of'the pantograph on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 show 25 ing pen and pencil holding means. Figs. 4

and 5 are details of the same. vertical section on the line 6-6 ofFig. 1. Fig. 7 is a vertical section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 1. Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11 show a variation of a certain feature of. the device. Fig. 12 is a horizontal sectional viewofthe spacing mechanism, taken on the center of guide rod 2. Figs. 13 and14' are details of the Same A stationary base 1 holds a guide rod'2 in two bearings 3 attached tob'ase 1 by screws 4. A support 5 having an upturned side portion forming an angle, is slidably mounted on guide rod 2 bytwo bearings 6 clamped to the upturned side portion of support 5 by nuts 7. Upon the leftextension of support 5 (see .Fig. 2) is. attached a pantograph 8 on universal swivel bearings consisting of a sleeve .9 fixed to pantograph 8, and having bearings on a vertical pivot fixed to *a spring yoke 11 having conical hearings on two conical horizontal pivots 12 fixed in stud 13, which is attachedto support 5 by screw 14. This uni-' viersal joint attaching means permits thetrac- Fig. 6 is a,

the numerals.

Combining several letters together in one 'ing end of the pantograph to be lifted upward in any direction.

Figs. 3, 4, and 5 show means adapting the pantograph 8 to conveniently, and adjustably hold pens of the tubular type, and pencils. It consists of a short tubular bolt 15-used for joining the arms of the pantograph, and for holding by frictional contact a slotted spring collet 16. I The spring collet holds'pens, or pencils adjustable vertically. 1

Upon the right hand extension of support 5 is mounted a drum 17 on a pivot 18 (Fig. 7) fixed to support 5. The drum is held on pivot 18 by nut 19. The drum has three slots- 20 (Fig. 9), and the upper part of it forms a grooved pulley. The lower part of the drum is slightly flared, and holds by frictional contact a disk 21 having three notches 22. On this disk are grooved designs, the central groupv 23 having the elements of capital letters, the left design of this group having the elements of all the alphabet except .B P K R S &, which are contained in the right hand design. The upper group 24 contains the elements of the lower case letters, the left design, contains all of the letters except s w x z, which are contained in the right hand design. The lower design 25 contains all design makes frequent shifting ofletters into the position for their being copied unnecessary.

The drum 17 has in it a coiled spring 26 (Fig. 7) having one end held in a slot 27 in pivot 18, the other end being attached to a pin 28 fixed in the upper part of the drum. This pin projects below the edge .of a small washer 29. A small fixed stop pin 30 projects up behind pin 28 to the level of washer 29, and limits the rotation of the drum to one revolution by pin 28 coming into contact with it. The spring should be wound to an initial tension of one revolution. A. cord3l has one end wound on the grooved 'pulley, and

wedged in a small hole 32 in the bottom of the groove of the pulley, the other end of the cord being attached to a lever 33 to be operated b the hand; The cord also extends throng a hole 34 in the upper part of support 5. he lever 33 swings horizontally on screw 36 having a conical portion which clamps collar 36 to rod 35, which is free to turn in two bearings 37 fixed on the top of the upturned portion. of support 5. ll l cking pawl 38 having bearings on rod is engaged by one end of a spring 39, the other end of spring 39 projecting through a hole in the flange of nut 40. There may be several holes in this flange for adjusting the tension of the spring 39. When the lever 33 is down the spring 39 will force the locking pawl 38 into any one of the holes 22 that may be presented by revolving the disk 21. lVhen the lever 33 is raised the dog 41 fixed to rod 35 by brazing, or otherwise, and having a projection 41 will force the locking pawl 38 out of engagement with notches 22. The lower part of locking pawl 38 is accurately fitted to slot 42 in support 5.

The means for advancing the support 5 on guide rod 2 for spacing the letters and words, and for holding it at any desired point (Figs. 1, 2, 12, 13, and 14), consists of two clamping levers 43 and 44 on rod 2, each having a part '45 and 46 engaging in diagonal slots in the upturned portion of support 5, and each being held in frictional engagement with rod 2 by the pressure of spring 47. T he clamping lever grips against forward movement of support 5, and clamping-lever 44 grips against rearward movement of support 5. Clamping-lever 5O grips the stationary guide rod 2 by pressure of the thumb, using the left hand, while pressure of the linger against clamping-lever 43 advances support 5. The bar 51 is for regulating the distance 01 the spacing of the words and letters, and is adjustably mounted in clamp 52 by screw and nut 49. T he clamp is attached to the upturned part of support 5 by screw 54 and nut The movement of the support 5 for spacing the letters is limited by the bar 51 coming into contactwith clamping-lever 50.

The bar 51 may have any required graduations on it. The clamping-lever 59, when released after support 5 has been advanced, is automatically advanced by spring 47 until it again contacts with clamping-lever 44.

The projecting part 48 of clamping-lever 43 contacts with nut 49 when pressure is exerted against the clamping-lever, which limits its inward movement. The part 48 is not entirely essential when the part tits properly in its diagonal slot in the upturned part of support 5, and it is still less essential when the material punched out of the slot is bent to one side to form a support for the clamping-lever, as 46 of the slot of the part 46 0t clamping-lever 44, which is necessary when the material ot-support 5 is very thin. The objects of the slot being diagonal, and the objects of the parts 48 and 4b is to permit the clamping-lever to engage the support with suiiicient flexibility to allow them to grip the guide rod 2 by outward pressure against them, and release their grip by inward pressure, but be rigid against other than slight inward movement. The slots need to be only slightly diagonal to give sutlicient relief for the necessary flexibility. And, of course, the parts 45 and 46 may fit angularly in straight slots, which amounts to the same thing.

If it should be desirable to operate support 5 in both directions for spacing, the clamping-lever 50 would be centrally located between clamping-levers 43 and 44, and would have a spring 47 on both sides of it, and clamping-lever 44 would project as far out as clamping-lever 43, as it would not then be in the way of the finger or thumb operating clamping-lever 50.

And this spacing mechanism arranged as last mentioned or as illustrated in the drawings by making it stationary, can be made to advance a rod like rod 2, longitudinally in its bearings, for example, merely by having clamp 52 fixed to base 1, and the parts 45 and 46 engaging in diagonal slots in an upturned part of base 1.

The pantograph 8 has a series of holes in its arms, located at the proper points of adjustment for making difi'erent sizes of letters, and has numerals adjacent the holes, indicating the sizes, and the spacing bar 51 has graduation marks on it for setting it to correspond with any one of the numerals, for example, if set at the 8th graduation mark, it would space correctly-the size of letters made when the pa-ntograph is set to the adjustment indicated by the numeral 8. With sets of master letters of the same height but dilferent width, a separate spacing bar would be required for each set.

It is essential that the tracer contact with the grooved characters before the drawing point contacts with the paper on which it draws, and that the drawing point should break contact with the paper before the tracer is withdrawn from the grooved characters, and to this end (Fig. 6) a tracer 56 is slidably held in a sleeve or guide bearing 57 fixed to pantogra-ph 8, and is normally held at its lowest position in sleeve 57 by spring 58, one end of which encircles sleeve 57, and the other end projects through a hole in the upper end of tracer 56. In the drawing the tracer is shown at its highest position in sleeve 57.

A variation of this last mentioned mechanism is shown in Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11, in which a small extension 59 on the right hand extension of support 5 holds a spring 60 having one of its ends projecting from the under side of extension 59 upward through a hole 61, and the other end of the spring projecting downward through hole 62, and having a right angled bend about A; in. below, the bend making a better surface, for sliding on the paper. This spring serves the same purdrawing point whenjt is near the attached end ofthe pantograph. But this spring is not entirely essential. 3

A small shoulder 67 on tracer 56 limits the downward movement of :the autograph when the drawingpoint is near te attached this way with the iirst descri revolution "in :one and that a cerend of the pantograph.

With the "variation mentioned above, the spring and. sleeve 9 maybe dispensed with, and pivot 10 made shorter, and the nut 66 screweddown tight, thereby clamping the yoke 11 rigidly to thepant'ograph, in which case the stud 13 should be looseenough to turn'in its bearin s. It ma ,also, 'be used (1 mechanism, as well as with the variation.

A tubularhandle 6B for guidingrthe tracer,

formed preferably of sheet metal, has'two opposite slots 69in itstapered end,andhas two ball socketsstamped inits tapered fend,;for engagement-with'the ball 70"slida ble on tracer 56, or for en agement with ball 71 fixed on the fixed tracer 72. Anda small screw 73 for adjusting it to the balls. 1

The device is equally well adapted for use as a parallelruler. For this purposes. ruling blade 7 4 having a thin spring metal strip 75 attached to it by screws 76, is attached to the left extension-of support 5by the, same stud 13 and screw 14 by which-the pantograph is attached. And is'held at any required angle by clam nut77-on screw the head of which is ma e flush with the-bottom of blade 741by counterboring its hole in] the end of the blade. The stud 13 has a shoulder 79 to prevent binding the strip 75.

for being traced, from either directiomby a horizontal movement of the hand while the thumb is in engagement with clamping-lever 50, and the finger in engagement with clamping-lever 43, ready to operate the spacing mechanism. The direction in which to rotate the disk will depend on the location of the required design. 'It'being necessary to remember that the drum can "revolve'only one tain design will always occupy the same position at the starting oint of revolution, assuming this point to Be at the left side at the center, which is the proper place for being traced, it will'only be necessary to remember-,

that if this particular design occupies some other position than the starting point, all designs on the left of it are to be revolved to the left, and all designs to the right of it are to be revolved to the right to the position for being traced. The particular design referred to may be made conspicious by a colored spot,

or other means. In revolving the disk 21 the lever 33 should be depressed before the re projectingbeneat-h it, or by any other suitable means; and while this base is desirable for most uses, it is not entirely essential, as the guide rod 2. may be held by any suitable means, and maybe of any desired length.

By referring to Fig. 1 it 'will'be observed that the base, the guide rod, and to some extent the letter spacing mechanism represent essential features of several well known section liners. section; liners difi'ering very much in mechanical construction, and, also, a number of different species of pantographs that may be embodied in different species of my invention,

which=would be included under my broad claims. I

I claim: 1. A guide bar, a support mounted on said guide'bar, movable longitudinally thereof, a master copy and apantograph mounted upon'said support, a drawing point and a tracing point carried by said pantograph,

and means cooperating with said pantograph for causing-said tracingpoint to contact with said master copybefore said drawing point contacts with the drawing surface, and -for causing said tracing point to break contact with the master copy after said drawing point breaks contact with the drawing surface, for copyingthe characters oft-he master 2. A guide bar, a support mounted for movement longitudinally on said guide bar,

"a master copy and a pantograph mounted upon said support, a tracing point and a drawing point carried by saidpantograph,

for copying the characters'of said master copy, and spacing mechanism adapted for producing an intermittent movemento'f said support for spacing the copied characters.

There is quite a variety of- 3. A guide bar, a support mounted for movement longitudinally on said guide bar, a master copy and a pantograph for copying the characters of said master copy mounted pon said support, a ruling blade attached to said support, djustable angularly with respect to the support, and spacing mechanism for moving said support on said guide bar to space the copied characters, and words, and lines drawn by said ruling blade.

4. A guide bar, a support mounted for movement longitudinally on said guide bar, a master copy mounted upon said support, a pantograph mounted upon said support, a drawing point and tracing point carried by said pantograph, means cooperating with said pantograph for causing said tracing point to contact with the master copy before said drawing point contacts with the drawing surface, and for causing said tracing point to break contact with the master copy after said drawing point breaks contact with the drawing surface, for copying the characters of the master copy, and spacing mechanism adapted to produce an intermittent movement of said support of the required distance for spacing the copied characters.v

5. In mechanism'as in claim 4, a ruling blade attached to said support, adjustable angularly with respect thereto.

6. A guide bar, a support mounted on said guide bar, movable longitudinally thereof, a master copy mounted on said support, a pantograph mounted on said support, adj ustablefor copying the characters of said mas ter copy in various sizes, and spacing mechanism adapted for producing an intermittent movement of said support, adjustable to correspond with the adjustment of said pantograph for spacing the various sizes of copied characters.

7. A guide bar, a support mounted for movement longitudinally on said guide bar, a master copy and a pantograph mounted upon said support, a drawing point and a tracer carried by said pantograph for copying the characters of said master copy, means cooperating with said pantograph for causing said tracer to contact with the master copy before said drawing'point contacts with the drawing surface, and for causing said tracer to break contact with said master copy after said. drawing point breaks contact with the drawing surface, said. pantograph being adjustable for copying said characters in various sizes, and having numerals thereon indicating said sizes adjacent the proper points of adjustment for making said sizes, and spacing mechanism adjustable to correspond with the adjustment of said pantograph, for producing an intermittent movement of said support of the required distance for spacin the various sizes of copied characters.

8. A guide bar, a support mounted for movement longitudinally thereon, a pantograph having a drawing point and a tracer, mounted on said support, a master copy mounted on said support, consisting of grooved designs of characters superposed, ach design having the elements of several characters, the grooves serving to guide said tracer.

9. A guide bar, a support mounted for movement longitudinally on said guide bar, a master copy and pantographic means for copying the character of said master copy, carried by said support, and means for uni formly spacing the copied characters and words, comprising two clamping levers slidable on said guide bar having their ends engaged in slots in said support, adapted to prevent other than slight movement of said 1evers towards each other, a spring between said levers holding them in gripping engagement with said guide bar, a free clamping lever slidable on said guide bar under the pressure of said spring, a clamp fixed to said support, and a removable spacing bar held adjustable longitudinally by said clamp to limit the movement of said support to any required distance by the spacing bar coming into contact with said free clamping lever while it isheld in gripping engagement with said guide bar by the thumb or finger.

10. A guide bar, asupport mounted on said guide bar, a master copy and a pantograph for copying the characters of said master copy mounted on said support, said pantograph being adjustable for making various sizes of letters, and having numerals thereon indicating said sizes, adjacent the proper points of adjustment for making said sizes, means for spacing the copied characters including therewith a clamp on said support, a spacing bar held adjustable longitudinally in said clamp, having graduation marks on it corresponding with the numerals on said pantograph, thereby indicating the correct adjustment of the spacing bar for spacing various sizes.

11. A guide bar, a support mounted on said guide bar, a master copy and a pantograph carried by saidsupport, a drawing point attached to said pantograph, a sleeve attached to said pantograph, a tracer slidable in said sleeve, a spring attached to said pantograph and normally holding said tracer at its lowest position in said sleeve, whereby a downward movement of said pantograph will cause said tracer to contact with said master copy before a further downward movement against the resistance of said spring causes said drawing point to contact with the paper on which it draws, and on upward movement to break contact before said tracer breaks contact. I

12. In mechanism as in claim 11, a ruling blade attached to said support, adjustable angularly with respect to the support, and spacing mechanism for moving said support on said guide bar to space the copied letters and the lines of the ruling blade.

13. A guide bar, a support mounted on said guide bar, a master copy and a pantograph carried by said support, a drawing point and a tracer attached to said panograph, a spring in operative engagement with said support, normally holding it slightly elevated, whereby a downward movement of said tracer in contact with said master cop will cause said drawing point to contact wit the drawing surface. 7 e

14. A guide bar, a support mounted for movement longitudinally on said guide bar, a

drum rotatably mounted upon saidsupport,

a disk removably attached to said drum, rotatable therewith, having a master copy thereon, and having a series of locating notches on its periphery, a locking pawl mounted on said support, adapted to engage with said notches, a spring in operative en-,

gagement with said locking pawl, a lever flexibly mounted on said support and operatively connected with said locking pawl, an element in operative engagement with said drum and said lever, whereby a swing of said lever by the hand will revolve said drum, while a substantial movement of said lever out of the planeof said swing will exert resilient pressure against said locking pawl through said spring, for forcing said locking pawl to engage with one of the notches on said disk at the proper oint of revolution for 10s cating the require character in the position for its being copied, a coiled spring inside said drum, in operative engagement with said drum and said support, tending to revolve said drum when said'diskis released from said locking pawl, a pantograph mounted on said support, a drawing point and a tracer carried by said pantograph for copying the characters of said master copy, and spacing mechanism carried by saidsupport for spacing the copied characters.

15. Mechanism as in claim 14, in which said spacingmechanism is located convenient for the engagement of said lever and said spacing mechanism both at the same time for operation by one hand.

16. In mechanism as in claim 14, a ruling blade attached to said support, adjustable angularly with respect thereto.

17. In mechanism as in claim 14, means cooperating with said pantograph for causing said tracer to contact withthe master copy before said drawing point contacts with the drawing surface, and for causing said tracer to break contact with said master copy after said drawing point breaks contact with the drawing surface. a. V

18. A guide bar, a support mounted for movement longitudinally on said guide bar,

a drum rotatably mounted uponsaid support, a disk removably attachedto said drum, ro-.

tatable'therewith,and having a master copy thereon,and having a series of locating notches on its periphery, a locking pawl mountedv on said support, adapted to engage with said notches,aspringinoperativeengagement with said locking pawl, a lever flexibly mounted on said support, and in operative engagement with said locking pawl, an element in operative engagement with said drum and said lever, whereby a swing of said lever by the hand will revolve said drum, While a sub stantial movement of said lever out of theplane of said swing will exert resilient pressure against said locking pawl through said spring, for forcinggs'aid locking pawl to en-- gage with one of the notches on said disk at the proper point of revolution .for locating the required character in the position for its being copied, a coiled spring inside" said drum, in operative engagement with i said drum and said support, tending to revolve said drum when said disk is releasedfrom 7 19. In a lettering machine, a support, a drum rotatably mounted on said support, a disk removably attached to said drum, rotatable therewith, having a master copy thereon, and having a series of notches on its periphcry, a locking pawl mounted on said support, adapted to engage with said notches, a spring I in operative engaging with said locking pawl, a lever flexibly mounted on saidsupport, and operatively connected with said locking pawl, an element in operative engagement with said drum and said lever whereby a swing of said lever by the hand will revolve said drum, while a substantialvmovement of said lever out of the plane of said swing will exert resilient pressure against said locking pawl through saidspring, for forcing said locking pawl to engage with one of the notches on said disk at the proper point of revolution for locating the required character in the position for its being copied, a coiled spring inside said drum in operative engagement with said support and said drum, tending to revolve said drumwhen saiddisk 20. A guide bar, a support mounted on said guide bar, means on said support carrying a master copy and a pantograph having a. I

universal swivel joint at its attached end for copying the characters of said master copy;

21. A pantograph having a. universal swivel joint at its attached end, comprising a rotatable stud having two pivots oppositely projecting at right angles to its aXes,a yoke attached to said pantograph and having bearings on said pivots.

22. A guide bar, a support mount-ed for movement longitudinally thereon, a master copy, and a pantograph having a drawing point and a tracer, mounted on said support, and an operating handle flexibly engaging said tracer for moving the tracer over said master copy.

23.- A pantograph having a universal swivel joint at its attached end, a drawing point and a tracer, and an operating handle flexibly engaging said tracer.

LEONARD MoDONALD. 

